


The Family Business is Dirty Business

by ColLynnelky



Series: Jake and Vanessa (Multiple AUs) [1]
Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Drug Cartel, F/M, family business, mafia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-06-01 05:24:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15136082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColLynnelky/pseuds/ColLynnelky
Summary: DISCLAIMER: There are no Kingsman characters in here, but watching Kingsman had made me think of an AU for Jake and Vanessa like this. Also, it requires me to pick a fandom and I wasn't quite sure what to put for some original work. My apologies in advance if I had you confused.Vanessa and Jake are constant reoccurring characters with many AUs that I put them in. Here, Vanessa learns betrayal and tries to face these demons head.





	The Family Business is Dirty Business

Jake lets out a chuckle, spitting out blood as he clutches his side. I grit my teeth and hold back the tears that threaten to fall. I tighten my grip on my pistol, aimed at his head as he's slightly sitting up against the wall.

"It was always you, Ness." He says, looking straight into my eyes. "Always you."

He shows me one of his old, knowing smirks that he used to give me all the time. He coughs, causing him to wince and he loses his gaze with me. Jon comes running by as I watch him. He grabs my arm and pulls.

"Ness, we gotta go." He says. I stare at Jake for a moment more as he catches my eye one more time. The moment passes quickly and I leave with Jon, letting Jake lie on the floor losing a lot of blood from the wound I gave him.

 

"Are you going to be able to do it?" Jon asks me as I finish buckling my holsters and pulling on my vest holster. I don't look at him and pick up my gun. Making sure it's primed and ready. I slide the mag in and pull back on the top. I shove it in my right side holster.

"Yeah." I tell him, shoving my other few guns and knives in their places. I finally look at him. He's got a worried look on his face as he leans against my door frame, leather jacket on. He's already ready, of course. I don't tell him that's why it took so long--preparing myself for this mission. I'm sure he already knew.

"Especially after what he did to me--to us." I say, not correcting myself but instead emphasizing how much this means to me. Jon swallows and nods, putting on his big brother face and clearing his throat. Anna comes into the room as I zip up the duffel bag and pull on my jacket. She hands Jo our files and looks at me with a mourning look. Jake's betrayed us and me a few too many times. I grit my teeth and instinctively put my hand over the scar on the junction between my neck and shoulder.

"Just be careful." She says, keeping her eyes on me for a few seconds and then averting her gaze to Jon, but for seconds less on him than me. Jon looks at me and I nod, throwing the bag over my shoulder and following him. I look at the picture of Jake and I with the bullet hole through his face on my nightstand and the still fresh-fixed hole behind it for a moment before turning off the light and closing my bedroom door.

 

"So what do we know?" Jon states, rather than asks. He's quizzing me just to make sure everything goes smoothly. Our files are open in my lap in the Suburban and I'm biting the inside of my lower lip.

"We know that the Chekovs intercepted our drug run to our major buyers and ten to either sell it to them for a fraction cheaper or turn it around to their clients or others." I tell him. "They own a ton of abandoned warehouses to do these trades and if we don't catch them before it gets distributed, it's lost for good and who knows how many times they'll keep doing it because it means they will keep believing they have the upperhand and will keep making sure they do. The most used and inconspicuous warehouse is in Orange County, miles outside of Sierra County. They never do business in the city, just like us, because it's too likely for them to get caught."

"So what's the plan?"

"Our intel tells us they're supposed to be there around 2am and we've left in enough time to get there by midnight for you and I to set up and intercept it back. Jake is in charge of making sure the shipment gets there and gets out in a quick, timely manner and that nothing gets bothered. It's a two-man job for us with backup only seconds out--because just in case. I cause a distraction, take out a couple of the guys around Jake and, as planned, Jake can't resist a chase with me. Never could, which we use to our advantage. He'll come for me while you hide and take out more. Once clear, you get our guys in there and take out our drugs while I hold Jake back and stall."

I stop and the car is silent for a long moment. Jon glances at me as I stare ahead at the dark road in front of us.

"Ness--"

"Then I take him out. It causes a wrench in the Chekovs management line, Victor can't trust anyone else with this job, and hits them where it hurts too. It should crumble from there. Long-term? It puts us at more risk as dad's kids, but for now, it helps us prevent our empire from falling."

I close the files and pull my right foot up on the dashboard, leaning my elbow on it and running y hand through my hair. Jon says no more and doesn't look in my direction for the rest of the ride. I put in my ear buds and turn up my music loudly so I can't hear the engine of the car or us breathing.

 

I'm lying across a rafter in the warehouse, my sniper set up and waiting. Jon's higher up and more out of sight while I'm in direct line so Jake can see me. On time, Jake and his crew come in with the shipment and I take a deep breath, waiting until they're further in and the door is shut so no one can escape. I close my eyes for a moment, drawing my lips into a line.

"Alright! That's all of it!" Jake yells. The doors slowly close shut and I open my eyes, looking at Jon. He nods and I nod in return. I look down the scope as Jake directs everyone around him. It looks like he has three men around him. I planned on two, but taking down three is fine. My sniper is silenced, but it's not like it matters. I steady myself and aim quickly. I pull the trigger once--everyone starts looking, twice--I can see the anger cross Jake's face, the third time--Jake looks up in the direction the shots were fired rapidly. I pull back from the scope, smirk on my face and I let Jake know it's me. His anger is still flaring in his eyes, but I can see the smirk even from my high perch. I knock the safety and sling my sniper onto my back and expertly jump up and run down the rafter. I can hear his loud, running footsteps behind me as I run across the metaphorical balance beam. I swing down the rafters and land on the balcony, taking off through a door and down a hallway. I let Jake chase me to wherever my feet take me, because I can hear his steps echoing up the stairs. I reach the end of the hallway and turn around, staring down at him. We pause for a moment in a standoff and I wag a finger at him and take off down the hallways. I slow down my pace so he can catch up and turn into a large room. I turn, pulling my gun and pointing it at the door. His pace slows so he can walk into the room instead of running, tumbling, or sliding. We look at each other as memories flash through my mind of us during the summers of Sierra County...of when we were in high school...of when we decided to try college before we took on the family business...of trips across the world we took together...of when I asked him to come with me and he never showed...of when we were exactly like this moment and he purposefully missed his shot and grazed my shoulder.  _I_ won't miss.

"This is much bigger than you and me, Ness." He says, leaning against the frame, hands in his pockets. I take a look at him--the fade in his blonde hair, the ocean blue eyes I fell for when we were kids, the muscles toned through his skin, the tribal and Russian tattoos on his arms and on his chest--poking out of his v-neck shirt. My eyes stop on the tattoo of his left wrist by the bone. It feels like my match one on my right is burning. The stereotypical flying birds that everyone gets but it meant to much to us. I see his eyes shift to mine before focusing back on me and I look back at his ocean blue eyes. He bites his lower lip, watching me, as he pushes off the door frame with his shoulder and makes his way towards me. I reaffirm my stance and he moves slower before stopping before me.

"You know that." He says, confirming his statement.

"If it was much bigger, why didn't you run with me when you had the chance?" I ask. "It's cliche and we would have never left the business, you and I both know that, but we could have ran for some time. Just like we planned and wanted to."

"You know I couldn't."

"You know  _I_ couldn't and there I stood with my car, by the old cabin we used to visit together and take our weekend getaways to, waiting. I waited for hours, telling myself that you were still trying to pick the perfect time so no one would notice. I got home at eight in the morning, Jon covering my ass up until then. That  _same_ day you and I stood exactly like this. Your job was to eliminate me--the 'heiress'--and you didn't."

Jake licks his lips, biting on his lip again, and leans his head back, looking at the ceiling. My breathing's gotten heavier in the time we've been standing here and I don't remember it doing so. My blood is boiling and if he takes another step closer I'll either pull this trigger or I won't.

"You know why, Ness..." He says quietly. He looks at me again, the pain in his eyes. No. I can't let it bother me.

"And you know why you won't." He says a little over confidently. He starts to step forward.

"Try me." I say, glancing at his stomach, quickly aiming a bit lower and pulling the trigger. His eyes go wide and he stumbles back as the blood pours from his right side of abdomen. His stumble causes him to fall and he lands on the floor, slightly propped up from the wall. My adrenaline kicks in and I've actually surprised myself that I did it, but I don't show him.

"You got me there." He says, chuckling then coughing. I watch his lips turn red with his blood, but I don't lower my gun.

"Maybe you'll understand the gut-wrenching pain I went through when you never showed and when you still pointed that gun at me nonetheless." I say, looking at him from my stance.

"I've never stopped loving you, Ness..." He struggles out. "Nor did I start loving anyone else. You never left my mind. Never."

I stare at him. I didn't not expect him to say this, but he's saying it right now and it's still surprising me anyway.

"When we were kids growing up," he continues, wincing, "I knew that there was one person who would always be by my side no matter what. That's what made me fall in love with you and it just so happened that you fell in love with me too."

I swallow and he just stares back at me. He leans his head back and chuckles, spitting out more blood while clutching his side. I grit my teeth and hold back the tears that threaten to fall. I tighten my grip on my pistol aimed at his head.

"It was always you, Ness." He says, lifting his head and looking straight into my eyes. "Always you."

He shows me one of his old, knowing smirks that he used to give me all the time. He coughs, causing him to wince harder and lose his gaze with me. Jon comes running into the room as I watch him. He grabs me by the arm and starts to pull.

"Ness, we gotta go." He says. "The shipment's loaded."

I stare at Jake for a moment as he catches my eyes one more time. The moment passes quickly and I leave with Jon, letting Jake to bleed out on the floor. I run out of the warehouse right behind Jon and I let the tears fall without Jon seeing I'm sure he'll be able to tell when we're in the car even if I wipe them all away and put on a face, but if I don't show him it makes it less like it happened. I throw our weapons into the trunk of the Suburban and slide into the passenger seat as Jon's tarts it up and throws it into gear, speeding out of the parking lot before I get my seatbelt on. I let out a breath and lean my elbow on the door, pressing my forehead into the back of my hand and wrist.

Technically, the job's not done. Jake's not dead. I left him to bleed out, expecting death for him. However, bleeding out isn't dead. My own revenge got in the way of the job. I wanted him to feel like I did when he betrayed me and my family and that will be mine and my family's downfall.

 

I'm surrounded by Victor's men in a quiet, dark part of downtown. When I felt eyes on me, I made my way away from the public. It probably wasn't a good idea, considering I'm alone, but better it be away and not get any innocents involved. I'm surely going to die here. It's been almost a year since I shot Jake, leaving him to bleed out. I can maybe take out one or two before someone else shoots me. I'm just surprised Victor isn't here to do it himself.

"Alright." I finally say. "You got me. You know i won't go down without a fight if I have one."

"Of course we know, love."

I freeze as I watch Jake come into the alley we're in. He smirks at me. I should have known. He wouldn't die without a fight either. I surely thought he had died, though. A year without him showing his face. It doesn't take a year to recover from a gunshot wound like that--I didn't hit him in the spine, just the side of his abdomen. The falter in the Chekov's current reputation and standing gave us a confirmation that Jake was most definitely dead...but no. They gave us a false sense of security. They pretended to falter in their system and didn't show Jake for a while to prove a point.

"We don't expect you to." He continues. He slides his hands into his pockets and watches me intently.

"I won't be cliche and be surprised you're alive." I say. "I mean, I'm a bit surprised, but not really. I didn't finish the job like I was trusted to."

"And we're much more alike than you'd like to admit."

I shrug and reach for my gun that's behind my back in my waistband. This time, it'll be a kill shot. Jake pulls his hand out of his pocket and shakes his finger at me. I stop and slowly put my hand back down by my side.

"This isn't a kill mission, Ness." He says, stepping forward and making his way toward me. He closes the space between us and looks down at me. I look up at him.

"Capture, not kill." I say loud enough for only us to hear. A sharp pain shoots through my neck and i can feel whatever tranquilizer they chose enter my veins. I instinctively grab onto Jake as I start falling and he catches and cradles me as everything goes black.

 

I can feel the dried blood crack on my face as I wince through the pain. I haven't seen Jake since he got me the other night. I can only guess how long it's been. There's no windows in this room and I haven't been given any meals. Victor's men have regularly come in and tried to interrogate me on new clients, where our warehouses (that they're unaware of) are, and where we get our supplies from. All information that would be beneficial to them to take clients, intercept our other shipments, and take our sellers from us. I haven't given in, of course, but they've come short of bringing me to the brink of death and back in order to get information from me. After a few beatings, they did bring in a webcam--no doubt to stream me to my family when they choose. I feel weak. Not just from the beatings, but just all around. It has to have been more than a few days. I don't remember any restful sleep I've gotten--just the blackouts after the serious beatings. I feel so fucking tired. Restraints aren't meant to be comfortable, but my shoulders hurt from my arms being pulled behind the chair and locked to the backing and my wrists are pulling from the ropes tied to the legs. My ass hurts from the wooden chair and I can't tell if my legs are relaxed are tense at this point. They've been both, but they're pulling at the ropes, so they must be relaxed. I hang my head. Maybe I can close my eyes for a bit...get some sort of rest.

The door behind me opens and the footsteps are rushed, but not like a rescue attempt. Just...rushed. I can't really keep my eyes open. Someone bends down in front of me and gingerly raises my chin. The figure isn't of my brother, nor my dad. They look familiar. Jake?

"You have to stay away, Ness." He whispers, untying my legs after letting my head down gently. I cough and taste copper. He curses quietly and moves to my arms and holy shit does it feel good when they're released. I can't keep myself sitting up and I feel myself slowly start to slump. He catches me, just like days before, and holds my head to his chest.

"We're getting you out of here, Ness." He whispers, tightening his hold on me.  _We?_ He slips an arm under my knees and lifts me easily. My arm fall sand he swiftly leaves the room I was in. I look at the birds on his wrist before I close my eyes.

 

I jolt upright and look around the room I'm in. It's all white and smells sterile. Where am I? I feel constricted by the tubes and wires on me and I start to pull them off, causing an array of beeping to start around me. Hands appear in front of me, trying to stop me from pulling out everything.

"Ness." The person says. " _Ness_. Stop..."

My eyes dart around the room again. This looks like one of our hospitals. I see bandages on my arms and feel some around my chest and stomach. Memories of Victor's men and my blood flash in my mind.  _Birds_. I look down at the hands and trace them back up to Jake's face. He looks at me sympathetically. I don't relax, but I let out a sigh of relief. Wait. I shouldn't be relieved. I instinctively flinch back and i can see the pain in his eyes.

"Why are you here?" I ask, my voice hoarse. "Is this some sort of trick for my mind? A false sense of security? You pulled me out of that room and away from your men and made a room to look like our hospital so I wouldn't think you switched sides or decided to be the good guy after all?"

"No, Ness--"

"Don't fuck with me, Jake." I say harshly and this time he flinches. "I can't take it. Please."

That would be my breaking point. That's how they would get my information. I know they know that. Victor would know that. Jake backs up and sits down in the chair in the corner of the room and rests his elbows on his knees. He brings his hands together and starts ringing them.

"Ness?" I hear Jon ask from the doorway. My eyes quickly move to him. The look of relief on his face makes me look at Jake again. Jon turns to him as well. I can see Jon having an internal battle of whether he should thank him or deck him. I swallow, the dryness finally leaving my throat afterwards. Jon turns back to me and sits at the end of the bed.

"How are you feeling?" He asks me, searching my face. I turn back to him and watch him.

"Confused." I say. He lets out a slight chuckle and nods. He sighs and runs the tips of his fingers over his forehead s if he were lightly scratching away an itch.

"Jake brought you home." He says. "When they first showed you to us, Jake reached out... He came up with a plan that would cause his family to disown him. He were skeptical at first, but Jake insisted. It worked."

"I just wanted to make sure you got here safely and your family got to you and also make sure you made it through." He says. I turn back to him and watch him stand up and go from the doorway.

"You're home and safe. It's time for me to take my leave."

"Wait."

Jake freezes, but doesn't turn around for a moment. I can feel Jon's eyes on me; curious, confused, and worried. He puts his hand on my ankle as Jake turns to face me. We've seen each other at our worst but it's like this time is different. It's almost like he can't stand to see me in this bed.

"Please stay." I tell him. Jake looks at Jon and Jon nods He returns to his seat and I turn back to Jon.

"What does this mean?" I ask. "What's going on?"

"We couldn't figure out where you were. Thanks to Jake, we know another location for their business now. We'll just take that information and store it like we normally do."

"What does that mean for you?" I ask Jake. Jake lets out a sigh.

"I have to go for awhile." He tells me. "I can't stick around the States let alone California for awhile. Dad'll be searching for me, but maybe this means I can live a little. I'll be hiding and making sure my tracks are covered, but it'll keep me away from the family business and that sounds really nice right now."

"Jon, can I talk to Jake?"

Jon looks at me and I give him a pleading look. He's skeptical, but nods and gets up, leaving the room and closing the door. I motion Jake to take his place and he cautiously sits at the end of the bed. I don't take my eyes off of him as I try to scoot a little bit closer.

"You changed your hair..." He says quietly. I reach up and tug at my shorter hair. After I shot Jake, I felt like the red held onto something I didn't want to think about anymore. Jake always loved my natural, long, deep red hair and the more I looked at it, especially after I shot him, the more it tugged at my heart and my feelings and I didn't want to think about it. So, I bleached it and faded from a dark brown to the nearly platinum I have now. I cut nearly five inches off and layered it and it change dhow I looked drastically, but I enjoy it.

"I like it." He says after I don't say anything. I look at him and his ocean blue eyes. There are two lines in his fade now and it looks like he's kept up on it. I reach up and touch the lines and I watch his eyes watch my own tattoo.

"Two lines. One for each bullet." He explains. The bullet he almost put in my shoulder and the bullet I put in his stomach. I pull my hand away and lift up his shirt and look at his scar. There's some marks around it that connect to the perfect circle and I run my fingers over them. His muscles flex under my fingers from my touch.

"You dug it out." I tell him. He watches my hands and nods.

"Split some skin doing so...hurt like a bitch."

He reaches up and pulls out a chain from under his shirt. At the bottom is the bullet.

"Don't worry, it's sanitized and clean." He chuckles. "But now it reminds me of what I brought to use and where I brought us... The end of each other's guns."

"I kept mine too... It's locked away in my safe. Mine was a reminder of what you did to me, but what you could have done also...and I didn't know if I should thank you or hate you."

"I'm so sorry, Ness..." He apologizes. I don't say anything. We all have choices to make and he made his. It wasn't an ultimatum, but had he told me after, before shooting at me, I don't think we'd be sitting where we are today. Maybe we would be still, but I didn't get the chance to find out which. I was given one option.

"I want to go with you..." I finally whisper after a few long, quiet moment. My one little sentence expresses the feelings that I tried to suppress and hide from Jake. Maybe this is idiotic of me to express my feelings like this--he could be double-playing us--but I guess I'm choosing to ignore it.

"Ness, it wouldn't be safe for you." He says, sighing, frustrated. "You know more than anyone that that's what I want, but after today it wouldn't be safe for you. It's still not safe for you. You need to rest up and I need to go. Your dad offered me a flight out tonight. I know he doesn't trust me, but hopefully I can prove to him I'm on your guys' side now, but for now, I just need to go."

I watch him as he raises his hand and gently holds his hand against my cheek, running his thumb over my bruised eye and cheek. He sighs and pulls away, looking at his watch.

"I have to go." He says, reaching down and grabbing my right hand with is left. He turns it over so my palm is facing up and my hand is laying in his palm...another scar of memories past looking up at us.

"I never forgot--"

"Always a forever." I say with him. He looks at me and I give him a small smile. He lets out a small chuckle and nods. He grips my hand in his and I squeeze back as he stands. He kisses my forehead and makes his way for the door and his hand slips away from mine.

 

I take a look at the building in Venice that my intel gave me for Jake's recent whereabouts. Hopefully I've caught him before he's left this city too. I've been chasing him for the last six months and it's been two years since that night in the hospital when he left to hide from his father. Since then, he's been traveling to, what feels like, almost every city in the world just to stay hidden. He's been helping our family out trying to hit sales worldwide and finding potential buys and our leaks in the Chekovs' ranks have proven to us that Jake's information has not reached his own family and has, in fact, remained with ours and ours only. He's proving himself to dad well enough, so he sent me out to go find him myself. Jake wouldn't release his whereabouts with us as he's traveled, aside from a postcard from each place signed "With Love From" and wherever he's at. He's had no particular pattern, so it's been hard to find him. His only contact with us has been his information and his postcards only.

I get out of the expensive car and my loose tank blows in the warm wind. I feel it on my legs through the rips in my jeans. My heels clack as I walk around to the front of the car and I look up into the windows and see Jake grabbing his jacket and holding it in his arm.  _Perfect timing._ I think, smiling to myself. I lean against the car, waiting. My hair has gotten longer, but I've kept the same color since I last saw him. I watch as the door locks behind him and he makes his way down the steps. He's still the same since I last saw him. Same two lines in his fade, same tattoos down his arms and across his chest--I can see them through his white v-neck. He looks up and I smile. A grin spreads across his face and he rushes down to meet me. He wraps me up in a hug and lifts me off my feet and I laugh. He sets me down and holds my face in his hands. I wrap my hands around his wrists, still smiling.

"You can come home, Jake." I say to him. He searches my face for a moment--for what, I don't know--and then his lips crash down on mine. I squeeze his wrists and his lips linger for another few seconds before he pulls away.

"Let's explore Venice first." He says and I nod. He makes his way around to the driver's side and I slip in the passenger's. My heart feels whole again.


End file.
